Grey Morning
This story takes place in the old forest, long before a brave orange Kittypet wandered from his Twoleg's garden...* Allegiances ' ThunderClan: Leader: '''Eaglestar-' pale long-furred tom with a feathery tail Deputy: 'Owlchest- '''brown tomw with a white chest, paws, and tail tip ''Apprentice: Hazelpaw Medicine Cat: 'Pebblegaze: '''grey tabby she-cat with big grey eyes ''Apprentice: Squirrelpaw Warriors: 'Shrewstep- '''small tabby tom ''Apprentice: Longpaw 'Nightclaw-' black she-cat with a torn ear 'Leafbreeze- '''long-legged tortoiseshell she-cat ''Apprentice: Ashpaw 'Foxheart- '''big tabby tom with a thick mane '''Thorntail- '''white tom with brown stripes ''Apprentice: Mudpaw 'Thrushswoop- '''big dark brown tom, missing half his tail ''Apprentice: Grasspaw 'Redfeather- '''long-haired ginger she-cat with black ears '''Blazewhisker- '''pale orange tom with a long tail '''Berryfur-' pale blue she-cat with amber eyes 'Dawnpelt- '''grey speckled she-cat '''Timbersnout- '''mottled brown tom with a squished nose Apprentices: '''Squirrelpaw- '''pale tabby she-cat, medicine cat apprentice '''Hazelpaw- '''small grey she-cat '''Longpaw- '''skinny tabby tom with big paws '''Ashpaw- '''big grey tabby tom '''Grasspaw- '''tortoiseshell she-cat with bright green eyes '''Mudpaw-' brown tom with sharp teeth Queens: 'Snowstream- '''white she-cat with amber eyes, mother of Thorntail's kits: Icekit, Dustkit, Blossomkit and Dogkit '''Robinleaf- '''brown she-cat with a ginger chest, mother of Foxheart's kits: Oakkit, Mousekit and Rainkit '''Larktail- '''spotted brown she-cat expecting Thrushswoop's kits Elders: '''Bramblepelt-' very old ginger tabby '''Prolouge Four cats sat by the side of the river, the moonlight dancing on their starry pelts. The water lapped gently on the shore, reflecting countless stars in a cloudless sky. A gentle breeze rustled the leaves of the great tree they sat beneath. A large orange tom with big white paws was the first to speak. "We all know why we have gathered," he began cautiously. The other three dipped their heads in agreement. "I'm assuming we all saw it?" Again, they agreed. "We must do something." "Do what, Thunderstar?" a wiry brown she-cat challenged. Her tone was harsh, but she could not keep the fear out of her voice. Her yellow eyes were bright with anxiety. "We cannot help our kin in the forest if they cease to believe we exist." Thunderstar stared at his paws, tucked neatly up against his belly. But before he could speak, he was interrupted by the black she-cat sitting opposite him. "I cannot believe that you two do not see it!" She exclaimed. "The answer is obvious, Windstar. We hunt down this rouge and destroy him before he can destroy us." She kept her voice calm, but she unsheathed her claws and her green eyes glowed with anticipation. Windstar stared at her. "How can you suggest that, Shadowstar? A battle would only hurt the Clans. We need a peaceful solution." Shadowstar sneered at Windstar, curling her lip in disgust. "Of course you would say that. WindClan cats are too cowardly to fight. They just turn tail and run away from all their problems!" She turned to Thunderstar. "And ThunderClan cats have never liked a fight. They would rather let themselves fall to peices than start a battle." Two sets of claws came out. Thunderstar took a menacing step towards Shadowstar. "Now listen here--" "Fighting will solve nothing," said the last of the four cats, who had been silent up until now. "Trouble will come, but there will be four cats to lead the Clans through these difficult times. Just as the four Great Oaks at Fourtrees stand strong through the storms, these cats must stand as strong as mighty trees, not letting any storm sway their branches." Without waiting for a reply from the other three, he slipped gracefully into the river and swam away. The remaining three cats stared at each other. All was silent for a moment besides the gentle lapping of the water. Then, Thunderstar, Shadowstar, and finally Windstar got up from the roots of the tree and slipped back into the shadows, as if they'd never been there. Chapter One Oakkit woke to the sound of rain pelting the thick walls of the nursery. The smell of it was clean and fresh, and in Oakkit's opinion, exactly what rain should smell like. The small kit sat up and glanced around the nursery. His mother, brother and sister were all still asleep. Snowstream and her kits were asleep too, along with Larktail. Oakkit watched as the brown queen's round belly rose and fell with her breathing. Oakkit couldn't wait for her kits to be born. It would be nice having denmates who were younger than him. Oakkit stood up and gazed wistfully at the entrance to the nursery. So many exciting things were out there, and he couldn't see any of them. I don't even know what rain looks like, he thought to himself. What does the camp look like? How many other cats are out there? So far, Oakkit had only met four of the cats who didn't live in the nusery. Foxheart, his father, had visited a few times, and so had Snowstream's mate, Thorntail. Then there was the medicine cat, Pebble-Something, and her apprentice, who's name he couldn't remember at all. If there are many more cats than that, I'll never be able to remember all their names. He listened to the rain for a few moments before he realized something. None of the other cats were awake. No one would notice if he poked his nose outside the nursery, and it would only be for a few moments... Oakkit stepped carefully towards the nursery entrance, stepping as lightly on the moss as he could so he wouldn't wake the others. He was almost to the entrance. "Oakkit!" Someone hissed softly. Mouse dung, Oakkit thought. He turned around slowly to see who had caught him. Icekit met his gaze. "What are you doing awake?" he hissed back. The white she-kit rolled her ice blue eyes. She was one of Snowstream's four kits. Her litter was born three sunrises before Oakkit's. "I could ask you the same question." Oakkit glanced worriedly between her and Robinleaf, his mother. The look didn't escape his denmate. "Don't worry. I'm coming with you!" Before Oakkit could argue, she trotted over next to him and nodded to the entrance to the nursery. They both hesitated, neither one of them wanting to be the first to stick their nose out into the rain. But Oakkit didn't want Icekit to get the better of him, so he bravely poked his head out into the downpour. A large drop of water landed on his muzzle, than another. He yelped in surprise, then glanced over his shoulder to see if anyone had heard. His brother, Rainkit, snorted in his sleep, but that was the only sign of disturbance in the nursery. Embarrased, the tabby kit stepped back out into the rain, flinching as the cold droplets began assaulting him again. Icekit followed him out, unfazed by the rain. Oakkit envied her indifferent acceptance of the cold and the wet. And though she didn't say anything, Oakkit knew that Icekit saw this as a victory over him. They sighed and sat down, relieved to no longer have to talk quietly. "I would've thought you'd have seen the camp before," said Oakkit, staring around him. The camp was nestled in a sandy ravine. At one end was a tall rock, and at the other there was a fallen log. Numerous bushes and ferns were scattered between the two. Icekit shook her head. "No, none of us had. Snowstream said we're not allowed to leave the nursery. I don't see why though." Oakkit barely heard her. The camp was too interesting. He was about to suggest they explore when a sharp voice cut through the humid air. "What in the name of StarClan are you two doing?" Oakkit and Icekit exchanged a panicked glance. Had they broken some sort of rule already? A big tabby with a thick mane was racing towards them. Oakkit gulped. It was Foxheart. His father skidded to a halt and glared at the two kits. "Are you both mouse-brains? You'll catch a cold! What were your mothers thinking, letting you out in this weather?" He nudged both of them with his nose. "Go on, get back inside the nursery. I doubt you're denmates will be pleased with the fact that you'll get their bedding soaked." Oakkit lowered his head in shame. His first time out of the nursery, and he was being scolded by one of the senior warriors. Then he realized something that made him freeze in his tracks, until another prod from Foxheart got him moving again. What if Foxheart tells Eaglestar? The kit thought. What if he decides that I can never be a warrior now? He began to panic. "Foxheart," he asked softly, "are you going to tell Eaglestar?" The warrior snorted. "Of course. ThunderClan's leader will want to know about kits wandering around in the rain. Losing kits could endanger the clan." Oakkit looked down at his paws. Not only was he going to make his littermates unhappy, he had endangered the clan. Was that bad enough for a leader to decide he couldn't become a warrior? When they entered the nursery, everyone was still asleep. Foxheart padded over to his mate and licked her gently behind the ear. Robinleaf blinked and looked up. "Foxheart?" "I found these two sitting out in the rain, getting drenched." He flicked his tail in the direction of Oakkit and Icekit. Robinleaf saw them and gasped. She ran over to them and started licking them both furiously. Oakkit squeaked in protest. "What in the name of StarClan were you two thinking? You're soaked! What if you've caught colds? I should go get Pebblegaze!" "We just wanted to see what rain looked like," Oakkit said defensively. But his mother was already gone. "What's wrong with being outside, anyway?" Icekit asked Foxheart. The warrior snorted again. Oakkit got the feeling that he did that a lot when cats asked questions that he thought were obvious. "What's wrong with it? Look at yourselves! You're drenched! You look like a pair of RiverClan cats!" The two kits glanced down and suddenly realized that they were indeed very wet. Icekit shivered, and Foxheart nodded. "Exactly. I have to go now. Eaglestar is expecting me. Try to stay out of trouble." And with that, he left. Oakkit looked at his denmate, fear in his eyes. She returned his gaze. "What if Eaglestar says we can't be warriors?" Icekit gulped. "He wouldn't, would he? I mean, we're only kits!" "If he tries to punish us, I'll take the blame. It's my fault. It was my idea to go outside." Icekit shook her head. "No way. Your fault? I should have stopped you when I saw you sneaking out, but I decided to come with you. It's definetly my fault." Oakkit was about to point out that neither of them would be in trouble if he hadn't decided to go outside in the first place, and therefore it was his fault, but he never got the chance, because right then, Robinleaf returned. A grey tabby she-cat was with her, and Oakkit recognized her as Pebblegaze, the medicine cat. She came up to the two kits and sniffed them. Then she turned to Robinleaf. "I think they're fine. Just have them rest, and they'll be fine by sun-high." Robinleaf cast a worried glance at her son. "Are you sure?" She asked, unconvinced. Pebblegaze nodded. "Positive. Now just let them rest." Icekit let out a loud yawn, and Oakkit realized suddenly how tired he was. Without a word, he crept over to where his littermates were sleeping, plopped down on the moss, and instantly fell asleep. Chapter Two Oakkit was dreaming. He had stepped out of the nursery again, and it was raining. But the sky, instead of being the murky grey it had been in the kit's wakeful adventures, was a bright blue, like Icekit's eyes. White fluffy things were scattered in the sky. Oakkit hoped they weren't dangerous. All of a sudden, a small, furry animal with a bushy tail jumped out in front of him. Oakkit didn't know what it was, but he could smell it, warm and juicy, and his instincts told him that it was prey. Immediately, the young tom took off after it. He chased it out of the thorn tunnel he had seen on his first venture into the camp, and up a steep slope. His hind paws scrambled, desperately trying to keep up, and small stones went tumbling back down. He chased the animal on and on, until it scrambled up a tree and out of his reach. He unsheathed his claws, ready to go after it, when a voice came from behind him. "You'll never catch it up there," purred the voice in amuzement. "they can leap with ease from tree to tree, when a cat would fall to the ground." Oakkit whipped around to see the other cat. He was a big orange tom with white paws. The kit narrowed his eyes suspiciously. What if this was an attacker? Should he chase him away and defend his territory? He couldn't lead him back to camp. But the stranger's claws weren't out, and Oakkit wasn't looking for a fight, so instead of demanding for him to leave ThunderClan territory, Oakkit sat down and glared at him suspiciously. The orange tom let out a mrrow of laughter. "Don't worry, little one. I'm not an invader. I'm a ThunderClan cat as much as yourself." Oakkit sniffed him cautiously. He smelled like ThunderClan all right, but his scent was not a familiar one. But instead of challenging him, the kit asked, "What was that thing?" The tom smiled. "That was a squirrel, one of the many kinds of prey eaten by the Clans." A look of puzzlement crept on to Oakkit's face. "I would've thought that you had at least heard of squirrels, being a ThunderClan cat and all." "Oh, I've heard of squirrels. I just never thought that they'd look like that!" He sat back down. "What's your name? I'm Oakkit." The kit wasn't sure why he was being friendly to this stranger, but he got the feeling that he could trust him. The tom got to his feet. "My name is..." But he was fading away, as if he was a wisp of smoke disappearing into the sky. "Wait! Don't leave!" Shouted Oakkit. But it was too late. The ginger tom was gone. All of a sudden, there was a harsh pain in his side, as if he was being crushed by a boulder. Then something knocked him over from the other side, and he was tumbling, down and down and down... Oakkit blinked open his eyes. His brother, Rainkit, was sitting on top of him, and Mousekit, his sister, was backing up, preparing to ram herself into him again. "Stop it!" Exclaimed the tabby kit in annoyance. He got to his feet, shaking Rainpaw off of his back. "I was in the middle of a dream," he protested angrily. Mousekit touched his ear with her tail tip playfully. "Sorry, Oakkit. But we heard you'd been outside!" "Yeah, what was it like?" asked Rainkit excitedly. Suddenly, all the memories of the previous night came flooding back to Oakkit. He glanced over at Snowstream's nest. Dogkit, Blossomkit and Dustkit were there, fast asleep. But Icekit was nowhere to be seen. "Where's Icekit?" he asked. Dogkit stirred and opened his eyes at the mention of his sister's name. "She's in the medicine den with Snowstream," he said sleepily. Oakkit bristled. "Is she okay?" he asked nervously. If she had gotten sick, it was all his fault for letting her come outside with him. Before anyone could answer, he said, "I have to go make sure she's okay." Without waiting for an answer, he darted over to the entrance to the nursery. If she's sick, I'll never forgive myself, Oakkit thought anxiously to himself. He paused only briefly when he exited the nursery, remembering the trouble he had gotten into the night before. But he had to make sure Icekit was okay. Oakkit stepped out into the sunlight. It was no longer raining, though the smell of rain lingered in the air. He glanced around. He had no idea where the medicine den was. He could ask one of the many ThunderClan cats out in the camp, but then he might get in trouble for being out agian. So he decided to guess. The kit turned towards the fallen log at the end of the ravine. That was his first guess. After all, wouldn't Pebblegaze want some privacy when she was treating sick cats? So Oakkit crept over to the fallen log and slipped underneath. One lonely ginger tom cat looked up at him. "Well, who is this?" He asked. "I'm Oakkit," said Oakkit, his whiskers twitching in embarassment. This certainly wasn't the medicine den. "Could you tell me where--" "Well, that's nice," interrupted the old cat. "I'm Bramblepelt. Not very often do I see a kit in here. How'd you like to hear a story?" Oakkit looked down at his paws. "I'd love to, just not--" Bramblepelt purred. "Well then. Here goes. Back when I was an apprentice..." The young tom churned the earth beneath him with his paws. It wasn't that he didn't want to hear the elder's tale, but he had to find Icekit and make sure she was okay. Every minute I'm stuck here, he thought ruefully, Is another minute Icekit could be laying in the medicine den, cold and alone, with no hope of recovery, all because of me... "Oakkit!" The harsh voice of a young she-cat snapped him out of his dread. A pale tabby apprentice bounded up to him, dripping moss clutched in her jaw. Oakkit wrinkled his nose at the foul smell coming from it. She skidded to a halt beside him and carefully set the moss down in front of her. "What are you doing here?" Before Oakkit could answer, Bramblepelt spoke. "I was just telling him a story, Squirrelpaw, it's alright. And I see you've brought the mouse bile. Excellent. That flea behind my ear has been bugging me." Squirrelpaw. ''That was the name of the medicine cat apprentice. "Well," the kit said, seeing his chance to escape, "I don't want to distract you. Could you tell me where the medicine den is?" The she-cat nodded. "Through the fern tunnel. Just don't get in Pebblegaze's way. She's busy." ''Busy trying to save Icekit, Oakkit couldn't help but think. Without a word, he slipped back out into the clearing. Oakkit padded quickly over to the fern tunnel he had seen before and pushed his way through. He came out into a small clearing. Pebblegaze was facing away from him, her nose poking into a large crack in a rock. Then Oakkit spotted a lump of snow-white fur. Icekit! The young tom bounded over to her and prodded her side with his nose. "Icekit? Icekit, are you okay?" Icekit stirred and opened her eyes, blinking them sleepily at him. "What are you doing!?" ''Exclaimed a voice from behind him. Pebblegaze was glaring at him, a wad of herbs at her feet. "She needs ''rest! ''Rest, as in ''sleeping! I thought you were there when I said that, Oakkit." Oakkit glanced down at his paws nervously. He was in trouble. Again. One incident Eaglestar might have been able to overlook, but now... "I'm sorry," he mewed softly. "I just wnated to make sure that she was alright." Pebblegaze sighed. "Icekit will be fine. As long as she gets plenty of rest," ''She looked pointedly at Oakkit. "She'll be back in the nursery in a couple of sunrises. Now go back to the nursery before you get into any more trouble." Oakkit nodded vigorously. He spun around and bolted back towards the fern tunnel, only to collide with a huge wall of pale fur. The young tom fell backwards and looked up. He gasped. He was face to face with Eaglestar, who was looking down at him with an amused expression. "I- I- I'm sorry, Eaglestar." The ThunderClan leader grunted, his ears twitching. "It's alright. But you need to head back to the nursery. Robinleaf is looking for you." Oakkit nervously slipped around Eaglestar and bounded through the fern tunnel. "And watch where you're going this time!" the pale tom called after the kit. Eaglestar padded over to where Pebblegaze was sitting, watching Icekit. "He's quite something, isn't he?" Pebblegaze purred affectionately. "He's got a nose for trouble. He'll need a mentor that can keep an eye on him." She glanced up. "Do you have any ideas?" The tom shook his head. "I have half a mind to mentor him myself, but I don't have time to do that as well as taking care of the rest of the Clan. Especially with leaf-bare coming." At his words, the medicine cat grew somber. "We're lucky that Icekit didn't catch Whitecough. We couldn't make it through a Greencough epidemic in the middle of leaf-bare." Eaglestar nodded his agreement. "We're lucky that she's strong." "Speaking of which, do you have all the herbs you need?" "We're alright. But some extra catmint wouldn't hurt, just to be safe." "Alright. I'll send some warriors out to fetch some." He stood up to leave. "Thank you, Eaglestar." Pebblegaze watched him pad away. "Choose wisely," she whispered, although he couldn't hear her. "StarClan has a great destiny in store for that kit." '''Chapter Three' Oakkit was back in the clearing where he had first met the strange orange cat. Category:Fan Fictions